Day 21: And it feels like home

I woke up at 5:10 and while I was finishing my protein bar, my friend knocked on the door to get the library key for the Dayton students. We did morning chanting on the 3rd floor again and the students were clearly uncomfortable again, but they made it through the service. Then 3 Bhikkhunis, 2 samaneris, my friend, the 17 students, and I all went out for alms. The students did a good job at not making noise and it was nice to not really do anything since they collected the food from the Bhikkhunis and pushed the cart.
It's funny how I still view alms rounds through American eyes, but today I felt self-conscious about the neighborhood. All the stray dogs, the rooster noises, the 3 trucks with pigs crammed in the back, the makeshift houses, the overwhelming smell of pig droppings - I got used to all this, but the Americans were experiencing it for the first time. I did not want the students to judge all that they saw, heard, and smelt as negative. I live here now, so I consider myself a temporary resident. If they attach negative feelings to their observations, then I will feel offended. I have grown to accept and enjoy this place for all its good and bad.
After a nice big breakfast, a couple of guys and I cleaned the spider webs out of the library. Watching them try to sweep all the spider webs off the ridiculously high ceiling was a riot. The table collapsed at one point and thank goodness the guy landed fine. They let the spiders out instead of killing them, which was also funny to watch. I tried to pick one up by the leg but the leg detached itself and the cripled spider could no longer walk properly. The leg kept twitching for a minute or two after the accident...it was quite a traumatic experience.

Longest broom ever

Then we tried to help with painting but there were not enough brushes so I got to talk to some of the students for a few minutes. They miss pizza too and experienced the ketchup packets with the Pizza Company too!
The cooks made fried rice for dinner - another special meal that we do not normally eat here. Although I sat with the laypeople who do not speak English, it was nice to have the English speakers around for dinner.